Ive noticed people who love kisame LOVE Kisame??? Why y'all ride or die for Kisame???
I can’t speak for everyone—(in fact I’m still kind of confused by the number of vocal, adoring Kisame fans compared to other perfectly good Naruto guys)—but if I had to take a guess, I would say it might have something to do with where Kisame intersects in this Venn diagram?
Granted, I am sooOOOoOOOOoo biased, I think it would be awesome for more people to share their feelings about this! Why Kisame? Why so much Kisame? Why Kisame forever!?
Shounen Jump: Now that Itachi seems to be dead, what is Kisame going to do now?
Kishimoto: Kisame has always come off as a sidevillain whose only purpose is to travel along Itachi. But to my surprise, Kisame has gone from an unpopular character to someone whose more popular than Deidara after the Gai-fight. I won’t say too much, but Kisame is a character that wont die anytime soon. I will definitely develop on his character more and possibly make him…
Shounen Jump: Make him what?
Kishimoto: It’s a surprise.
Honestly I’ve been obsessing over this shark for 10 years and I still don’t fully understand it, but might as well try and put my English major to use
I think it might partially be that his story reminds me a lot of the earliest arcs in Naruto, particularly the Land of Wave due to the Kiri connection. It’s taking people to the darkest sides of the shinobi world and showing the people broken by them, but then also showing them as very human, so focusing more on problems within the system that the heroes themselves are part of rather than just defeating an evil mastermind. And he follows the identity/purpose crisis that’s spread throughout the series, particularly in Haku and Gaara. So he’s kinda like a compressed version of their stories but without a turning point, and his redemption/hope ends up being found among other antagonists. He could have been a perfect candidate for a talk no jutsu, but instead chooses to die loyal to his own comrades. Plus he’s another example of the fascinating mess that is Kirigakure, which could be a very dark spin off on its own and has a lot of room to worldbuild. Because if Haku’s father was willing to murder his family for harbouring the bloodline of a ninja clan, it adds another layer for someone like Kisame who cannot hide.
Plus all the questions, particularly as a trio with Obito/Madara and Itachi. Did Itachi know Kisame was working for Madara? Did Kisame suspect anything due to Itachi having Tsukiyomi and Madara promising Infinite Tsukiyomi? He wants a world without lies and yet follows two people he sees hiding their identities and loyalties, so what is it exactly within it that he wants within it? And then there’s Itachi being one of the most popular characters and there being a deep level of care and what gets very close to flirting between them, plus a good portion of Akatsuki Hiden focusing on love humanising the organising and Itachi having internal monologues wondering how Kisame feels about him.
There’s so many contradictions in there two, even comparing his English to Japanese versions, who initially appear like two completely different characters (they get closer by his final episode). And personally as someone whose gone back and tried retranslating a lot of his lines, each part just gets sadder; like the final line ‘where can i go/where can i go to find inner peace’ being more literally wanting to have somewhere he can settle down, calm himself and live in quiet, stability and harmony. After being built up as this big mystery, his dreams are so simple and familiar and yet so impossible. Even his acceptance of himself in death is fairly simple - not deceiving himself that he was a saint, or even asking for forgiveness, but accepting that there was some good in himself, and that he wasn’t a complete monster.
And then there’s the fact you’ve got this huge muscular guy with pointy teeth, a penchant for slicing people up, and a very dark backstory that culminates in one of the most gruesome deaths in the series. And then you have him going on tea dates in the middle of missions, wearing matching lavender nailpolish and telling his terminal ill partner to get out of the rain, and then in all the supporting spin offs knitting/buying tiny sweaters for Samehada, going to dog cafes to sip herbal tea, sulking over his unusual appearance, using Samehada as a toboggan and doing touristy things with Itachi when Zetsu expects them to start brawling. He makes cannibalism allusions to warn people away and yet is repulsed by the idea of even eating his summons, and doesn’t even risk them in battle for the most part. He’s morbid and full of self loathing and yet remains friendly and cheerful, and even caring. And then there’s his speech, which places him as not only one of the politest characters in the whole series (while still seeming genuine), but also speaking in a manner similar to Orochimaru and Haku that seems more feminine. Combined with the Itachi/Obito/etc shipping I think that could be part of the reason he seems particularly popular among LGBTQIA+ fans.
Also being shown as one of the most powerful shinobi, and going far beyond being expected to be a supporting villain. He outlives Sasori, he outlives Hidan, he outlives Kakuzu, he outlives Deidara, he outlives Itachi, he outlives Pain, he dies hours before Konan. He ends up part of the final trio of villains and is never fully taken down. Tobirama is proclaimed as the most powerful water user in history due to using high level water jutsu without actual water, and then Kisame effortlessly created an inland sea in the desert as a 30% clone. There’s swordfighting/mutant taming, energy absorption, shark fusions, and 1001 ways to use water sharks. And despite having huge scale jutsus, he’s also shown using a bunch of clever tricks, like his layers of booby traps around his death, or being able to quickly analyse the “high frequency oscillations of super-vibrations” of Bee’s jutsu in a Sherlock-style slow motion sepia scene. All while leaving it open as to how the Tailess Tailed Beast got that level of power.
So he’s a tragic powerhouse who’d rather settle down and have some tea, but since he knows it’s a countdown to die, might as well strap in for the ride.
AW FUCKING YEAH
THIS IS WHAT I NEEDED THANK YOU VERY MUCH @kururisa @not-so-terrible you are always gold<3
